1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clamp mechanism for a disk-shaped recording medium and a reproducing apparatus for the recording medium and, more particularly, to a clamp mechanism for a disk-shaped recording medium that is used to clamp the disk-shaped recording medium onto a turntable for reproduction/recording (reproduction or recording) and a reproducing apparatus, for the disk-shaped recording medium, that is equipped with the clamp mechanism. Here, it is to be understood that the clamp mechanism comprises a clamper for rotatably holding the disk-shaped recording medium on the turntable, a clamper holder for holding the clamper, and a disk clamp portion formed integrally with the turntable and adapted to engage with the clamper.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a wide variety of disk-shaped recording media, typical examples including the CD (Compact Disc) and the MD (MiniDisc) for recording musical pieces such as music and songs and the DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) for recording video. Of these types of disks, the CD and the DVD are of the same disk size; therefore, the disk-shaped recording medium here will be described by taking the CD as an example.
Usually, a disk-shaped recording medium (hereinafter sometimes simply called a disk) such as a CD is inserted in a disk player forming part of an audio system or the like, and played back to present musical pieces to the user for listening. In this case, if the disk player has a built-in automatic disk changer, a plurality of disks can be set in the changer, and musical pieces can be presented to the user for listening by automatically selecting and playing back the disks one at a time in the desired sequence.
To play back music from the disk on such a disk player (the procedure is the same for the case of recording), it is essential that the disk player be equipped with some means for correctly clamping the disk on the turntable for rotation. The means that plays an important part in the disk player is the disk clamp mechanism which rotatably clamps the disk on the turntable.
Known disk players include, for example, the one disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H06-203447. In the disk player disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H06-203447, the clamp mechanism for clamping the disk comprises the earlier mentioned clamper, the clamper holder, and the disk clamp portion formed integrally with the turntable. In the clamped condition, this disk clamp portion is positioned inside the clamper.
The disk placed on a moving table is clamped between the turntable and the clamper, and is rotated by a spindle motor. The turntable and the clamper are mounted on a common unit. This unit is mounted to a chassis via a spring. When the moving table moves from outside the apparatus to inside the apparatus (when inserting the disk), or from inside the apparatus to outside the apparatus (when ejecting the disk), the unit is located in a lower position, and when the moving table is drawn into the apparatus, the unit moves into an upper position where the turntable holds the disk thereon.
In the invention disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H06-203447, it is described that, as the turntable moves up and down, the moving table need not be provided with a means for moving the disk up and down; as a result, the moving table can be made thin in construction, and the overall size of the disk player can thus be reduced.
However, when mounting the thus constructed disk player, for example, in a vehicle, the disk player is usually installed in that portion of an instrument panel (dash panel) that is located between the driver's seat and the front passenger seat in the vehicle. As the space for mounting such automotive apparatus in a vehicle is extremely limited, severe size limitations are imposed on automotive apparatuses designed for mounting in a vehicle's dashboard (such apparatuses are called in-dash type apparatuses). Furthermore, as, traditionally, radio receivers and cassette players are installed as automotive audio apparatuses, the disk player, as a latecomer, must be further reduced in size, and the size reduction achieved by the disk player according to the invention disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H06-203447 has not been sufficient.